Bob Green, a man whose fame was made in the shadows of anti-gay activist Anita Bryant died Jan. 26 in Miami at age 80, according to the Bellingham Herald. Green spent two decades married to Bryant and joined her in her campaign against gay rights.
Green, a radio DJ, married Bryant in 1960, at a time when her music career was just taking off.
According to Bryant's biography on the Anita Bryant Ministries International website, the marriage "introduced into Anita's life a tumultuous relationshipeach were strong-willed. Bob became a Christian on the night before their wedding."
Green began managing Bryant's career and the two traveled the country together.
When Bryant was initially told she could not have children, the couple adopted a baby boy in 1963, Robert Elnar Green Jr. The son currently works as a copy editor in Chicago. Green Jr. did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Bryant and Green had three other children together: twins Billy and Barbara, and Gloria Lynn, all by birth.
Green was at Bryant's side as she took on the gay-rights movement. The couple battled the Dade County, Fla., ordinance that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 1997, the ordinance was overturned.
By then, Bryant and Green had become symbols of the anti-gay movement, working against gay protections around the country. But their efforts tarnished their images and cost Bryant her job as the spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission.
According to the media reports, the battle also caused the unraveling of their marriage.
In 1980, after almost 20 years of marriage, Bryant announced she was divorcing Green.
According to People magazine, Green issued a plea for Bryant to reconcile. "Let us both put aside all other earthly considerations," he wrote, "and reunite in Christian love."
Bryant remarried in 1990, while Green remained alone.
According to the Bellingham Herald, Green was on kidney dialysis at the time of his death and had been suffering heart problems.